Homewood places 60-day moratorium on Bird electric scooters

Bird scooters located at the corner of 32nd Street South and Clairmont Avenue in the Forest Park area of Birmingham. (Erin Edgemon/eedgemon@al.com)

The Homewood City Council on Monday placed a 60-day moratorium on Bird electric scooters operating in the city.

"We are going to stay open minded on this," Council President Bruce Limbaugh said. "We'll look at options and possibilities."

He said the city council wants to hear if residents want the scooters to operate in the city, and how they should be regulated.

City Attorney Mike Kendrick said regulations need to be put in place before Bird can offer scooters for rent in Homewood.

The city council's action comes days after Homewood impounded about 38 scooters that were illegally placed on city sidewalks on Aug. 28. Bird was also issued a citation for doing business without a city license. Fines and court costs totaled $371.

Council members criticized Bird for launching in the city on Aug. 28 without seeking the proper permits and business license.

"It was a bit of a shock to be driving to work and suddenly have scooters cluttering our sidewalks," Councilwoman Barry Smith said. She said she saw several children riding the scooters, even though the legal age is 18.

Councilman Peter Wright said Bird launching without a license was "incredibly unprofessional. You can't just be flippant about it," he added.

"You are putting danger in people's hands, and you come back and say, 'well, we forgot to get a business license,'" Wright said.

Servando Esparza, senior manager of governmental relations for Bird in the Southeast, said Bird launched in Birmingham and Homewood as part of its university pop-up tour to engage interest in college towns and college students.

"We were encouraged by the high level of interest in Homewood," he said, adding that Bird has applied for a business license. He said Bird wants to work with the city.

Esparza said Bird offers free helmets to riders, and riders can request them through the Bird app. Helmets requested are shipped to riders for $1.99, which is the cost of shipping.